1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hydrotherapy jets and more particularly to hydrotherapy jets generating a pulsating water stream by the action of an internal ball.
2. Description of the Related Art Various hydrotherapy jets have been developed for use in spas, hot tubs, pools, bath tubs and the like (“spa”). Jets can be arranged to discharge a stream of water to the interior of the spa, which can be aerated through a variety of commercially available discharge nozzles. The various designs provide different flow characteristics that produce a pleasing massaging effect for the spa occupants, and have become quite popular. In the design of single or multi-user spas or tubs, it is common to use a variety of different jet nozzles to provide a variety of different massaging effects.
Early jets simply discharged a stream of warm water with aeration if desired, along the longitudinal axis of the jet body. Since then, numerous jets have been developed in which the direction of the stream can be adjusted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,029 to Spears et al. (assigned to the same assignee as the present invention) discloses a jet that provides an off axis stream of water and has an axial push/pull mechanism used to control the flow of water. The mechanism can also be rotated to rotate the stream of water around the jet axis, providing a limited directional control over the stream.
Other jets have been developed having fully adjustable directional outlets or eyeballs, which are typically mounted in the face plate of the jet or recessed within the jet body. See Waterway Plastics Inc., “2006 Product Catalog”, pages 5-26. For some of these jets, the direction of the stream of water can be adjusted by manually manipulating the nozzle or eyeball to the desired direction.
Still other jets have been developed that produce a pulsating stream of water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,174 to J. Neenan, discloses a spa jet that produces a pulsating action by having a rotating flow disturbing blade mounted at the discharge end of the jet nozzle. Water flowing through the jet turns a small multi-bladed turbine that then turns a disturbing vane that is positioned to disturb the jet's water flow through part of the vane's rotation. The rotating velocity of the disturbing vane can be controlled and the amount of projection of the turbine rotor into the water stream can also be varied.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,541 also to J. Neenan, discloses a spa jet that provides a pulsating action by a flow impeding spoiler that momentarily and repetitively disturbs the water jet that is projected into a mixing chamber. Disturbing the jet effectively disables the vacuum produced by the venturi action, which causes a discharge of a water stream of decreased velocity having considerably less entrained air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,372 to L. Thrasher et al. discloses a hydrotherapy jet that produces rotating and pulsating streams of water. The jet includes a nozzle rotor that rotates within the jet body and is held by a rotor retainer cage. The nozzle rotor has two passageways and turns in response to the jet water passing through the passageways. A portion of the retainer cage extends over the discharge end of the rotor so that water from the rotor passageways is momentarily interrupted as the rotor turns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,925 to Dongo, (assigned to the same assignee as the present invention) discloses a spa jet having a rotating eyeball and a diverter cap formed with a number of bore holes positioned at a common radius from the center of the cap. Water flowing through passageways in the eyeball causes it to rotate at a high speed. The water discharging from the passageways intersects with the diverter cap boreholes to produce the sensation of a number of simultaneously pulsating water jets.